HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Although Navarro College (Texas) handed No. 4 Northwest its first loss of the season in Saturday's Nighthawk Round Robin, the Rangers responded with a 13-4 blowout of Allen County (Kan.), finishing 1-1 on the weekend.

Northwest moved to 11-1 on the season following Saturday's stint in the Nighthawk Round Robin, hosted by National Park College. 

Sophomore McKaylee "K.K." Polk was absolutely dominant at the plate all weekend, finishing 4-for-4 with two doubles, a triple, a two-run home run and six total RBIs. Fellow Senatobia native Kara Johnson also finished 3-for-7 with a double, a triple and three RBIs.

Northwest will now turn its attention to its conference-opener against Southwest Mississippi, set for Saturday, March 11 at 12/2 P.M. It will mark the first home doubleheader for the Rangers since the February 6 season-opening sweep of Jackson State (Tenn.).

Both games against Southwest Mississippi will be carried on Ranger TV, with live stats available here.


Game 1 - Navarro College 6, #4 Northwest 4

Tied at 3-3 heading to the bottom of the sixth inning, a pair of the errors were the dealbreaker in a 6-4 loss to Navarro College.

Navarro led off the inning with a single, but an error and a sac bunt moved a pair of runners into scoring position. Another error was followed by an RBI-double, helping the Lady Bulldogs build the 6-3 lead.

Though Northwest tried to spark a rally with back-to-back doubles from Reese Vanlandingham and Kara Johnson in the top of the seventh, the Rangers grounded into a double play to end the game.

Northwest started the game with a 2-0 lead, thanks to a leadoff single from Vanlandingham and a home run from Polk. However, Navarro responded with a two-run homer of its own in the bottom of the first, tying the contest.

Although the Rangers would retake the lead with a triple from Polk in the top of the third, the Lady Bulldogs once again tied the game in the bottom of the fourth on a two-out single, eventually setting up the sixth-inning scoring spurt from Navarro.

Navarro finished with eight base hits, compared to six from Northwest. Polk and Vanlandingham combined for four of the Rangers' six base hits, with Polk adding three RBIs. Johnson and Maggie Ross also finished with one base hit apiece.

Neely Cooper (2-1) threw 5.1 innings and tossed three strikeouts, despite allowing six runs, two of which were earned. Allyson Harrison finished the final 0.2 innings of relief, dishing one strikeout.


Game 2 - #4 Northwest 13, Allen County 4 (5 inn.)

Northwest blasted out 16 base hits and limited Allen County to four late runs, as the Rangers rebounded with a 13-4 run-rule victory.

Like the first game, the Rangers wasted no time taking a 2-0 lead in the first inning against Allen County, as Polk doubled to score Johnson and Vanlandingham. Northwest would then add four runs in the second and four more in the third, building a comfortable 10-0 advantage.

Despite surrendering two runs to Allen County in the bottom of the fourth, Northwest added three more in the top of the fifth. The Red Devils earned two more in the bottom of the fifth, but it wasn't enough to stop the Rangers from winning in run-rule fashion.

Allen County committed a whopping seven errors in the loss, while allowing 16 base hits. Johnson, Polk, Vanlandingham and Crista Wilson finished with two base hits apiece, with Wilson smacking a two-run homer in the top of the third to score Chloe Summerford.

Gabby Dickerson improved to 5-0 in the circle, striking out five batters in two complete frames. Kylee Brown also tossed five strikeouts of her own across 2.2 innings of relief. Read Full Article